Micronauts: Emperor and Megas (Lion Rock, 1981)

Emperor and Megas were among the last original Micronauts produced, and they are beauties. Mego went bankrupt before most of Series 5 could be released, and the toys were bought up by GiG in Italy (GiG also distributed large quantities of Eagle Force and The Black Hole toys) and Lion Rock in the U.S. The torso of the Emperor could be detached and put on the body of Megas, as seen at Micro Outpost.

It’s interesting that Mego veered into mythology and fantasy for these final ‘magno‘ designs. Had the company invested more in similarly creative concepts, as opposed to banal efforts like The Greatest American Hero and The Love Boat, who knows?

I got this guy years ago as an Interchangeable. Only difference between the Interchangeable and the Micronaut (other than the name) is the head; hard rubber for the former and hard plastic for the latter. I also have the chrome purple/white version from the ill-fated Micronaut relaunch from about 10 years ago.